


Jake Gets a Tight Knit Family: The First Weekend

by SheWantsItAll



Series: Jake Gets a Tight Knit Family [4]
Category: Falsettos - Lapine/Finn
Genre: Alternate Universe - Foster Family, Angst and Feels, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Marvin Says the L Word, Marvin and Whizzer are the best dads, The Short One gets a name, They have adventures, they're too cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 01:34:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29627109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SheWantsItAll/pseuds/SheWantsItAll
Summary: Jake spends his first weekend with Marvin, Whizzer, and Jason. There are accidents, adventures, and lots of hugs.
Relationships: Whizzer Brown/Marvin
Series: Jake Gets a Tight Knit Family [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2100567
Comments: 26
Kudos: 36





	Jake Gets a Tight Knit Family: The First Weekend

Marvin wasn't sure what he had been expecting to see when he dragged himself out of bed to make coffee the morning after Jake came, but it definitely wasn't to find him sitting, fully dressed and ready to go to school, eating a bowl of cereal at the kitchen table. It wasn't even six yet. 

"What are you doing up already kiddo?"

Jake's heart stopped. He probably wasn't supposed to be in there yet. Maybe he wasn't allowed to leave his room without permission like at the Johnsons. He definitely wasn't supposed to take food without asking- that was almost always a rule. "Umm. I-I just.." 

"Hey.. it's alright. It might not feel like it yet, but this is _your_ home now too. It's okay to be out here whenever you want," 

He let out the breath he had been holding and nodded. "Thank you... Is... Is this okay?" he asked quietly, nudging his slightly soggy bowl of cereal. 

"Of course! We didn't really get to show you around in here last night so that's on us. But it's definitely okay- you can eat something anytime you need to" 

Jason watched as The Short One went to the kitchen, tracking every move he made. He stirred his cereal around a little, suddenly decisively unhungry. He had messed up. 

"It's not a big deal kiddo, it's okay... I just don't want you to get hurt trying to get something you can't reach. Me or Whiz can get down whatever you need- just ask. Any time. Even if we're asleep." 

"Really?" He asked, disbelief plain in his voice. These people _had_ to be the weirdest grown ups he'd ever met. 

"Of course, so why are you up so early? It's okay- I was just surprised to see you. Jason sleeps in as late as he can,"

He sounded genuine. Weird. Jake watched as he keuriged one cup of coffee and then a cup of water before plopping a tea bag in. 

"I didn't want to miss school... Just in case..." He trailed off. If he finished it would sound like he was accusing The Short One of something. He had been in homes where if he didn't get himself up and ready for school, he didn't get to go. He didn't know how things would work here. 

"Hold that thought," Marvin put his cup down in the spot across from Jake's and grabbed the cup of tea off the counter, "I'm going to take Whizzer his tea- I'll be right back."

He scampered into their bedroom, poking Whizzer in the shoulder repeatedly to rouse him. 

He groaned. "Marvin, _stoppp_ "

"Nope! I brought you your tea," he kissed the available side of his face and sat the tea down on the side table, intentionally not setting it on the coaster in a way he knew would be enough to annoy his husband into a vertical position. 

He was successful. "Perfect." He kissed his nose, "Now. I'm going to talk to Jake. He's gotten himself up and ready for school and we're not done talking yet. We didn't get to go over everything last night and I think he'll feel better when he knows more."

By the time Jake had calmed down enough to try to sleep the night before, it had been long past an acceptable six year old bedtime. And Marvin and had spent the two hours after that sitting on the floor against his bedroom wall, on his own for the first hour, hoping he would be able to help him feel safe enough to go to sleep in an unfamiliar place, and another hour with Whizzer in solidarity, desperately hoping he would stay asleep until morning. By then it had been past _their_ bedtime.

"Mhm..." He moved the mug onto a coaster and flopped back into the numerous pillows that littered their bed. "I'll be right in there," he mumbled, closing his eyes again. 

Jake sat in the chair, nervously tapping his foot against the leg. He didn't like waiting, especially when he didn't know what they were talking about. They could have been agreeing to send him back. 

He stirred his cereal around a bit more before deciding that he absolutely could _not_ sit still any longer. He quickly ate the last few gross, floppy fruit loops before carefully carrying the bowl to the sink. It was annoyingly tall. 

He put the bowl on the floor as quietly as he could and then dragged one of the tall bar stools over to the sink. It made a horrible sound as if scraped across the tile and he couldn't help but cringe while positioning it in front of the sink. He was sure it hadn't been so loud when he had gotten the bowl down out of the cabinet. 

He picked up his bowl and started climbing up onto the stool. It wobbled a little bit, but he pressed on, determined to wash his bowl. The Short One said it was okay if he made a mess, but that was on his first day there and it wasn't his first day anymore and what if things changed? 

He had _almost_ scrambled up into the seat when everything started to fall apart. The stool tilted, before toppling over completely and then Jake _and_ his heavy ceramic bowl were both on the floor, one of them broken to bits. 

Marvin heard a crash and was in the kitchen in seconds, finding Jake on the floor, shirt soaked with milk and trying to pick shards of glass up off the floor. 

"Oh no... No no no don't do that kiddo," he pulled the trash can over, "here, just drop it in here.." he looked at the kid somewhat frantically, searching him for any injuries. They hadn't even had him twenty four hours and he was already getting hurt. Maybe they _were_ failing. He took a deep breath, determined not to wig out and scare him. 

Jake's eyes were almost frighteningly wide. It was clear that he was scared, though Marvin couldn't be sure if falling had distressed him or if he was worried of what their reaction might be.

"Hey.. it's okay," he made his voice as soft and gentle as he could, still feeling his own heart race. "Are you hurt?" 

Jake shook his head, but kept his eyes fixed on the broken bowl. This was bad. This was really bad. Why did he sound so calm?

"Alright... That's all that matters. Do you wanna go change? I'll clean this up and then we can meet on the couch to talk?"

He nodded before scampering down the hall. _What did they need to talk about? Was it bad? Was it because he broke the bowl or because he took the cereal or becau_ \- he was pulled out of his thoughts by the short one calling after him down the hall.

"You're not in trouble kiddo! I just want to talk about some stuff we didn't go over last night and maybe ask you some questions about the weekend!"

He let out a sigh of relief. He wasn't in trouble. Everything was going to be okay.

He went to his room and carefully changed out of his milk sodden outfit, trying not to get anything gross in his stupid hair. He rifled through the clothes in his drawers, unsure of what was then in there. Whizzer had put everything away while The Short One was... helping him. He felt sort of dumb for breaking down the night before, but he was thankful they had been so nice about it. He needed to do better, though, if he wanted them to keep him. 

Even in the light of day it was hard to wrap his little brain around what had happened over the last thirteen hours or so. They had been so incredibly nice. It felt too good to be true. 

He carefully pulled out a light blue sweatshirt and another pair of jeans. He felt… fancy. The fact that he had extra clothes at all was enough to do that, but the fact that they were clean and warm and didn't smell like cigarette smoke made them _extra_ special. 

He changed as quickly as he could before trying to smooth his hair back down, wincing as his fingers got tangled and pulled in the back. He wondered, briefly, if they would take him for a haircut. He hated his hair. It was too long and the kids at school made fun of him because of it. And there were tangles in the back that had been there for a long time- he had tried and tried to get them out but they only seemed to get worse. They hurt. 

He had decided that he liked Whizzer's hair. It was bouncy and about the same color as his was. He wondered if he could get his cut like that. Then it would almost be like he belonged to them, somehow. Like how Jason looked like The Short One. 

He rolled his eyes at his own stupidity. These people were weirdly nice, yes. But they weren't crazy. They would see how annoying and stupid he was and get rid of him before he even had the chance to belong to them. 

He shoved his feet back into his shoes and shuffled over to the door, listening for a second to ensure that no one was yelling before he left the safety of his room to go to the living room. 

He found The Short One sitting on the couch, as expected, drinking his coffee. There was no sign of what had happened in the kitchen. The barstool was back where it belonged and the floor was free of both bowl pieces and milk.

Jake stood awkwardly nearby, trying to figure out where he was supposed to sit. He shifted awkwardly on his feet before The Short One finally spoke. "You can sit wherever you want, it's alright." 

He sat on the opposite end of the couch, wanting to scrunch his legs up, but knowing he shouldn't put his shoes on the couch. He felt wrong, sitting there with his feet on the floor. He scrunched them halfway up, before forcing them back down. He wanted them to keep him. He had to be good. 

"Did you sleep alright buddy? I'm sure it's scary being in a new place."

Jake nodded, but didn't say anything, trying to decide how much he was willing to share. It _was_ scary, but he had done it so many times before that it was nearly routine. The fact that The Short One had stayed while he went to sleep had made him feel so much better. So much more _safe_. No one had ever done that for him before. He looked at the floor.

While he was a little bit nervous to know what they actually wanted from him, he felt relieved. He could only hope that they would let him stick with them. He heard the floor creak and whipped around, always a little bit on guard. 

To his relief, it was just Whizzer, standing in the doorway. His hair was much floppier than it was the day before and he was overall more wrinkled, but he was still smiley. Jake liked that these new people were both so smiley. He watched as he crossed the room to perch on the arm of the couch behind The Short One, sipping tea from his mug.

"Alright... I know we didn't get to talk about it last night, but _I_ always feel better when I know the rules... and know what to expect," The Short One said, taking Whizzer's unoccupied hand. 

Jake nodded, but stayed quiet. He would probably feel better after he knew, too. 

He paid close attention as they laid everything out for him. It seemed too easy. There were four big rules. 

1- Be Safe. Apparently that meant not climbing on chairs to wash a bowl. Or anything else where he could potentially get hurt. That might be hard- he was _so_ used to doing everything for himself. 

2- Be Nice. To your family and to kids at school and to people you don't even know. And to yourself. Use nice words and don't hurt anyone on purpose. That would be easy. He didn't want to hurt anyone, _ever_.

3- Be Respectful of Others and Their Space. So, knock before you open a closed door and clean up after yourself when you can and it's safe. That wasn't hard. He could handle that. 

4- Ask For Help When You Need It. With anything and at any time, day or night. That one might be hard. That went against everything that he had been taught over the years. He was supposed to be able to handle himself and not bother anyone else. He could probably learn though. He knew that he would have to if he wanted to stay, and and _really_ wanted to stay. 

After that, they showed him where things were in the kitchen. There was a basket full of snacks and breakfast items and one full of fruit on a shelf low enough for him and Jason to reach. There were also juice boxes and cheese sticks on the bottom shelf of the fridge, along with more fruit. They told him that he was allowed to get a snack whenever he needed one, and if he wanted something he couldn't reach to ask. These people were so weird. 

He paid close attention. Nodding where he was supposed to and promising he would follow the rules when they finished. He sat at the kitchen table and moved all his raggedy school supplies from his sad, dirty yellow backpack to his new blue one with whales. The Short One had started talking to him about their weekend plans when Whizzer left, and returned with a new box of crayons and a couple new glue sticks. It was one of the big boxes, with all of the special colors. 

He held the supplies out and Jake took them with wide eyes. "We can look for some new folders next time we're at the store if you want? We just had these as back ups- it looks like you could use them?"

Jake thanked him repeatedly, tucking them very carefully into his pencil box. The few crayons he had were short and stubby, and while Jason was always willing to share the colors he didn't have, the kids who sat near him weren't nearly so nice. New crayons were _almost_ as exciting as clean clothes. 

They also talked about what was going to happen over the weekend. Friday night they would stay at home and hang out and do homework and just be together, Saturday they were going to go and do something fun, and Sunday was family day, which this week probably meant pajamas, movies, and board games, unless they all decided on something else. 

He thought about what the weekend would be like all the way to school, staring out the window. He wondered what was going to happen Saturday. He knew that he probably wouldn't get to go, but Jason would probably tell him what happened. That was pretty exciting on its own, even if he didn't get to go.

They pulled up into the drop off line and he hopped out of the car, thankful for the warm coat he was bundled up in. 

He heard The Short One's window roll down, and he had his back turned and was walking away when he heard him call, "Have a good day kiddo! We love you! We'll be here to pick you both up at the end of the day!" 

Jake didn't know what to say. He didn't know what his response was supposed to be. These people who barely knew him, who had only done nice things for him... _loved_ him? Loved _him_?

He turned and grinned at them, truly grinned at them, teeth and all, and waved before turning and running up the sidewalk towards the building. With those three words, all cereal related strife was forgotten. He could hardly believe it. Had _had_ to go tell Mr. McKinley. He had to tell anyone who would listen. 

He ran into the school and did just that. He told the guidance counselor (who told him to stop running in the hall), and the librarian (who also told him to stop running in the hall), the music teacher (who stopped him, made him go back to the door and walk), and _finally_ Mr. McKinley, who gave him a big hug and shared in his excitement. 

Much to his relief, Jason's reaction was much the same, laughing and hugging him tightly and reminding him that he _told_ him so. He hadn't had time to worry about it yet, but he had been in homes where the other kids liked him until the grown ups decided that they did too, and then kids didn't like him anymore. He was so glad that wasn't going to happen here. 

The day passed in a blur. He had an even harder time paying attention than usual. All he could think about was the fact that he had somewhere to go at the end of the day that wasn't terrible, and there were people there who _love_ him waiting for him there, and they were going to have a fun weekend. How was he supposed to pay attention to the Normal Friday Stuff when amazing things were happening?

He tried his best to pay attention during their spelling test, but he didn't have a clue what he was doing. He almost always failed them. It wasn't that he didn't try, he was doing his best, it was just… hard. He had to do better though. He wanted Whizzer and The Short One to keep him, and he knew that Jason was _really_ smart. He had to do better so that they would keep him. 

At the end of the day, Mr. Mckinley gave him a sealed envelope to put in his take home folder, to give to Marvin and Whizzer. He was a little bit suspicious, but he wasn't too worried about it. He was mostly just relieved to know that The Short One was called Marvin without having it ask anyone. 

They hadn't lied about the weekend plans. Friday night was just time to be together. Neither one of them had any homework though, so instead they settled in and went back and forth between their two rooms, playing a game and cleaning up before moving to the other one to repeat the process. Noodles followed them faithfully each time they moved, brushing up against both the boys as they sat on the floor, building with legos and drawing pictures and pushing cars around their lego town. 

They finally settled in Jake's room, taking down the bin full of craft supplies. Jake watched as Jason dumped everything out on the floor and spread it out. He didn't think he had seen so much construction paper, markers, stickers, and glitter glue before outside of the art room at school. It was pretty impressive. Everything was going great, until Jason stood up to put Noodles out in the hall so that she wouldn't make a mess and stepped on a tube of purple glitter glue, sending all of its contents squirting out all over the carpet. 

Jake's eyes widened. His heart stopped. This was bad. They were _definitely_ going to be in trouble. Maybe they could clean it up? That was one of the rules. He could handle this. He could clean it up. 

"Stay here, don't do anything," he told Jason, already halfway out the door to go find something to try to clean up with. 

Jason looked confused. He headed for the door, close in Jake's heels. "Where are you going? Why would I stay here? I can go get Daddy, he'll help us clean it up," 

" _No_ ," Jake insisted, "You'll get in trouble, I'll clean it up and they'll never know. Please don't do anything. _Please_." there was a frantic edge in his voice that Jason had never heard before. He didn't understand what the big deal was.

"Okay…" he agreed, but added on that, "they could help though.."

Jake ignored him and ran to the bathroom, grabbing a washcloth and wetting it in the sink, determined to fix it. Determined to keep Jason and himself safe. The part of his brain that knew he was safe and welcome and loved earlier that day had left the building and that knowledge had been replaced with blind panic. 

He peeked out the door to make sure no one would see him and after checking that the coast was clear, ran back to his room. He got to work immediately, scrubbing at the glue on the floor. This was bad. It was so bad. They had broken part of rule number three. They were going to be in so much trouble and they were going to get rid of him and he would have to go back somewhere terrible. 

Jason watched the whole situation unfold. He _knew_ that Daddy and Papa would make everything better if he just went and got them. They would know what to do to fix everything. He looked up from the big sparkly purple stain and saw that Jake had started to cry while trying to scrub it off the floor in a way that was actually just making it worse, spreading it around. That wasn't okay. Jason didn't like it that he was crying. He got up and scampered out of the room before Jake could try to stop him again, running as fast as he could to the living room. 

Jake continued to scrub at the spot on the floor, watching as the purple smudge only seemed to get bigger. He felt sick. He scrubbed harder at the spot, swiping at his eyes intermittently. He heard the door open and looked up to realize that Jason had left. He was going to get them. The little traitor. He _told_ him not to. He had _begged_ him not to tell them. He stumbled up off the floor and started trying to drag the area rug under his bed over to cover the spot up. Maybe they wouldn't notice? He struggled but the rug wouldn't budge. 

Jason ran up the hallway as fast as he could before turning around the corner and promptly colliding with Papa's long legs, almost sending both of them tumbling down to the floor. 

"Papa help- I got glitter on the floor and we just made it worse and Jake didn't want me to come get help because he's scared you'll be mad but I know you won't. He's crying and I don't like it! Help." He rambled frantically, grabbing Papa's hand and pulling him towards Jake's room, "Come on, come on, come _on_ ," his little voice demanded. 

"Alright alright, hold on baby." Whizzer had always been one to keep his head in a crisis, but felt more difficult then than it ever had before. He called out for Marvin to join then, knowing that Jake seemed to be more comfortable with him, and that he couldn't take this on alone. 

The door swung open and Jake looked up, eyes wide. They were there. They knew. They were going to get rid of him. This was it. 

By the end of a long day of being on guard, trying not to mess up, and holding everything together everything just seemed so much harder to manage. Everything did. Talking to them was hard and remembering their names was hard and not crying when he was scared was the hardest thing of all. 

And he was so, so scared.

Sometimes grown-ups got mad and yelled when he cried. And that just made him cry more. Which made them yell more. It was horrible. But... They hadn't yelled last night. And Marvin had hugged him. And they had both stayed to make sure he was okay when they thought he was asleep. And no one had teased him. 

He stood there like a deer in the headlights, starting at them but feeling completely frozen in place. He backed away, only stopping when his back pressed flat against the navy, star speckled wall. His eyes flicked away from them and down to the enormous stain and back. 

He started to apologise before he really realized what he was doing. Frantically babbling that he was _so sorry_ and he didn't _mean_ to and it was _all_ his fault. Begging them not to hurt him and begging them not to hurt Jason and insisting it was his fault in a desperate, instinctual attempt to keep his friend from getting hurt, far more concerned about Jason than himself. 

Jason was.. confused. He _told_ Jake that they wouldn't do anything like that. He wasn't sure why he didn't just believe him. He also found himself a little bit annoyed. Daddy and Papa wouldn't hurt _anyone_ , especially not either of them and Jake's worry almost felt like an accusation. He scrunched himself closer to Papa as his annoyance was taken over by worry when his friend stopped rambling and dissolved into tears, sliding down against the wall and onto the floor. He watched as Daddy moved closer to him ever so slowly. 

Jake curled up tightly, knees to his chest and arms over his head, trying to protect himself from whatever punishment might come. He thought about the rules. There weren't even that many and he had already broken one. Or maybe two. The one about cleaning up after yourself and the one about asking for help. If he wasn't in trouble for the giant stain on the carpet, surely he would be in trouble for breaking the rules. He would probably be in trouble for both. 

He heard quiet footsteps get closer and tensed, scrunching himself up smaller. He could hear Marvin talking, but his voice was muffled, like he was underwater. 

"Jake, kiddo can you hear me?" He asked gently. He sat down on the floor nearby, not too close, but within reach. It broke his heart to see this kid so scared. The fact that he was scared of _them_ only made it worse. 

He watched helplessly as the bundle nodded. 

"Alright...good. Kiddo you aren't in trouble. You didn't do anything wrong..." 

Jake opened his mouth to try to explain but instead choked on a sob. This wasn't what was supposed to be happening. He felt... exposed and embarrassed, knowing that everyone was there looking at him. He felt silly because he knew he must seem crazy. They hadn't done _anything_ but be kind to him, but he was still so convinced that things could change in the blink of an eye. He had seen it happen before and was completely unwilling to see it happen again. 

"You're safe here. No one here is going to touch you in a way you don't want," Marvin promised, wishing that he could just take all of the hurt away and make it all better. 

"I m-messed it up," he stammered out. Why was it so hard to breathe? He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to take a deep breath. Was he dying? 

"It's not a big deal. Everyone messes up sometimes… don't worry… look, Whizzer and Jason almost have it off. It's alright," Marvin murmured, watching as they blotted at the spot with alcohol on sponges. "It would be okay even if the carpet was purple forever, kiddo. You're so much more important than a rug."

Jake pulled his face out of his knees and looked. Sure enough, there was now only a small, lavender spot that was quickly disappearing. He briefly made eye contact with Jason, who was wearing the same look as Marvin. It really was a bit freaky. He looked sad too. He hated how sad he looked. 

He managed a few shakey, stuttering breaths before it all came crashing down once more. He had still broken the rules. He looked over at Marvin, eyes desperate and wishing that he would just get it over with already. He was sure that the only thing worse than being hurt was waiting to be hurt. 

As much as he wanted to just _stop_ he couldn't, convinced that they were going to get rid of him. Everything has been so amazing and he had already messed it up so badly. 

"M'sorry," he sniffled, wiping his nose on the sleeve of his shirt. It had purple glitter on it too. 

"It's okay. Everything's okay kiddo. This doesn't change _anything_. You're not in trouble. We love you, nothing is going to change that." Marvin assured, over the last twenty four hours, he had realized that nothing calmed Jake down quite as quickly as just being honest and letting him know what to expect so that his imagination didn't run away with him. 

He worried that he had sort of let the "we love you" slip out a bit early, that morning in the drop off line, concerned that the words would somehow make him uncomfortable. The look of excitement on his face had been priceless, and the words were true, so there was no reason not to say them. 

Marvin watched his crumpled little face for a moment before finally asking, "Is there anything I can do to help you feel better?" desperate to do something, _anything_ to help the kid. 

Jake looked at him, eyes red and puffy. He sniffled, still unsuccessfully trying to calm himself down, arms wrapped tightly across his chest. He didn't feel so scared anymore. Marvin said nothing was going to happen. He said they loved him. And Jake didn't think he'd lied to him yet. He didn't know why he was crying anymore. He just couldn't stop. He had been _so_ scared. "Hug?" he requested, his bottom lip trembled so much that he was sure Marvin wouldn't be able to understand him. 

Apparently he did though, because Jake found himself wrapped up in warm arms. He squeezed back, feeling that pleasant almost-secure feeling that was becoming more and more common the longer he was with them. He snuggled in as close as he could get, shutting his eyes tight and trying to focus on all the fact that he was safe and that no one was going to hurt him _or_ Jason. He replayed what Marvin had said over and over in his brain. _Everything was okay. He wasn't in trouble._ They _love him. They love him. They love him._

He could hardly believe it, that he was worth anyone loving, let alone that he was worth these people loving him. They were so nice. But he could feel it. He felt safe, and warm and fuzzy on the inside in a way that he hadn't felt since he was really little and with his first family. He felt like he mattered. That was what love felt like, right?

~~~

Jake woke up on Saturday morning, snuggled under his fuzzy blue blanket. He didn't remember going to bed the night before, but he _did_ remember the glitter glue incident. It was so embarrassing. Maybe they put him here after that? He rolled out of bed, preparing to get ready for whatever fun thing might be happening, only to almost step on Jason, who was curled up in the trundle bed on the floor. They'd had their first sleep over and he didn't even know it. 

He was determined that it would be a better day than yesterday. That he would do better and not make a mess and not mess everything up. It was going to be a good day.

He wasn't wrong. They _did_ have a good day. The fun Saturday adventure of the week was a trip to the aquarium. Jake had never been to the aquarium and he was _so_ excited to visit. The trip there didn't take long and he spent the ride chattering back and forth with Jason, both of them excited to see all of the fish. 

The second they got into the aquarium, he ran off to press his nose against the first tank that he saw, studying the clown fish inside. 

Marvin watched both of the boys carefully. They were _so_ different. It made sense, he thought, even though it was sad to think about, that they would be so completely opposite from each other in so many ways. They had lived opposite lives. 

Jake ran ahead of them, darting from tank to tank, weaving across the aisle with no regard for any of the other people wandering around. For a child who could be so fragile, and rightfully so, he seemed to be completely fearless in a crowd of total strangers. Unconcerned with who could be around and unbothered by typical traditional manners. 

Jason, on the other hand, who had so many solid, secure attachments clung onto Whizzer's hand, happy to walk alongside them and take his time to read about all the fish. He was cautious of strangers, not unusually so, but in the same way as most children who had been taught that they could sometimes be Not Nice. 

They were so opposite in so many ways, but they both had a smile on their little faces, enjoying their adventure in their own way. That was all that really mattered. 

They had dressed up in the same outfit that morning, leaving them looking like a very mismatched pair of twins. One of them tiny and solemn and the other seemingly typical and happy. 

Jason dropped Whizzer's hand, breaking away from his parents to run and catch up with his friend, or, as he had reached the conclusion the night before, his little brother. They had reached a more open area, in front of one large viewing tank, in which swam hundreds of fish. Both boys gawked with big smiles on their faces, both of them pointing at and waving to the fish, chattering back and forth between each other. 

Marvin and Whizzer sat on a bench nearby, both of them watching their boys like hawks. 

"I'm glad we did this," Whizzer finally said, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled between them. 

Marvin took his eyes off of the boys for a second, taking a moment to smile up at him, "Really?" He had assumed as much, of course, but the last two nights had admittedly been concerning. He found himself wondering if they were in over their heads. Of course he had wondered the exact same thing when Jason was born, but this was so different. He would never regret having Jason, but bringing Jake into their family had been an active, well thought out, sober decision. 

"Of course I am. Are you having doubts?"

Marvin shook his head. "Of course not. I'm just worried. That we're not... qualified."

"Is anyone though? Plus we've got help. From what we read, he's better off with us than has been anywhere else," Whizzer smiled at him before leaning over to peck him on the lips, "If one of us should be worried here it's me. That kid already loves you so much,"

Marvin rolled his eyes. "I'm not sure about that. I don't think you have anything to worry about either though. I know I love him though. I know you do too- I can see it in the way you look at him," 

"You're not wrong. I'm glad we did it. Now it's just...one day at a time."

Marvin watched them, holding Whizzer's hand in the relative peacefulness of the aquarium. He started making a mental list of things they needed to do. They needed to make a doctor's appointment for him to make sure everything was physically okay. They needed to schedule an appointment with his teacher to figure out what they needed to do to try to get him caught up at school. They needed to talk to his social worker about trying to find him an age appropriate therapist, because there's no way he didn't need it. 

He was pulled out of his thoughts by both boys charging up to them, big smiles on their faces. One thing he knew with absolute certainty was that he would never get tired of that sight.

He watched as Jason threw himself into Whizzer's arms, dissolving into a fit of giggles as he was tickled. Jake stood back awkwardly, smile fading and shifting back and forth on his feet awkwardly, unsure of just what to do with himself. 

Marvin took a chance, opening one arm and giving him the opportunity for a hug, if he wanted it.

The smile quickly returned as he stumbled forwards in his usual clumsy way. Marvin hugged him tightly, rubbing his back momentarily and trying to convey as much love as he possibly could. "Are you having a good time?" he asked, secretly thrilled that Jake had accepted his hug in a less emotionally charged state of mind. 

Jake nodded and leaned in closer, "Thank you for bringing me," he murmured. There had been so many times that his past foster families had gone to fun places and left him behind, either home alone with his other foster siblings or stuck with a respite caregiver, while taking their own biological children on wonderful adventures. The fact that they had bothered to bring him was _so_ exciting. 

"Of course kiddo. We wouldn't have it any other way," Marvin squeezed him once more before Jake let go, grinning from ear to ear, such a switch from his behavior the night before. 

Maybe they _were_ headed in the right direction. He knew it wouldn't be a fast process, but the fact that he was so willing to be close to them already felt like nothing short of a miracle. 

They had a great time at the aquarium, moving from exhibit to exhibit. The favorite exhibit of the day was definitely the stingray touch tank, where Jason leaned as far towards the water as he could without falling in before he nearly lost balance. Whizzer had grabbed onto the back of his shirt, barely keeping him from tumbling headfirst into the tank. Jake was, of course, more timid. Standing on a synthetic rock and holding his hand up over the water, patiently waiting for one to swim by close enough to the surface for him to touch, rather than sticking his entire arm in like Jason had. 

They finished off their trip with a quick stop in the gift shop, acquiring identical squishy plush stingrays and several fun aquarium themed pencils to make homework time seem a bit less terrible. 

The rest of the day passed with ease, there was another sleepover, this time in Jason's room and much more fun than Friday night's sad version, and then it was Sunday. Family day. 

Jake quickly decided that he liked family day just as much as big adventure Saturday. They ate the best blueberry muffins he had ever tasted for breakfast and played several rounds of Candy Land, Go Fish, and Pretty Pretty Princess before settling in to watch a movie. 

Jake stood awkwardly in the doorway, trying to figure out where he was supposed to sit. Jason was curled up next to Marvin, leaned against him in what Jake had come to think of as _his_ spot. 

His eyes flicked around the room, taking in all of his options before landing on Whizzer, who was sitting at the other end of the couch. The man smiled and patted the spot next to him. 

He hesitated. It wasn't that he was scared of Whizzer, necessarily. He wasn't. He seemed nice, and he had put all of his stuff in the drawers in his room, which was super nice, he didn't think anyone else had ever done that when he went somewhere new. He just hadn't interacted with him as much. Marvin was the one who had taken on most of the... hugging, and as much as he could go for a hug, it seemed to be Jason's turn at the moment. Maybe Whizzer was just nervous. That made two of them. 

He went over, barely avoiding tripping over a corner of his blanket that dragged on the ground, and sat down next to him, leaving a good amount of space in between them. The movie started and he quickly realized how tired the was.

He tried to pay attention, but kept dozing off, eyes drooping closed and head falling forward, before quickly snapping back up and into reality. He was so tired. The last couple of nights had been good, but there had been so many nights at the Johnsons house with the grown ups yelling all night, or spent so hungry he couldn't sleep. He just hadn't quite caught up on his sleep yet.

"You can sleep if you need to, sweetheart, we can start the movie again later," 

Jake felt his face heat up. No one _ever_ called him nice names like that. Well. At least not in a way that sounded nice. It made him feel warm and fuzzy inside. Whizzer pulled his blanket up over him more securely, tucking it around his shoulders and Jake took the opportunity to move a little bit closer. 

Whizzer took a risk and shifted slightly to the right, closing the gap between them. He let out a tiny sigh of relief when Jake hummed out a content little sound and let his head fall onto his arm. 

Whizzer carefully ran fingers through his hair, watching his little face for any signs that he might be feeling uncomfortable. When no such signs came, and a small smile was present, he continued, carefully trying to soothe him to sleep. He didn't stop until he hit one of the big tangles towards the back of his hair, when Jake let out a whine and cringed away from him. 

Whizzer pulled his hand back immediately, apology tumbling from his lips, "I'm so sorry sweetheart, are you okay? I didn't mean to hurt you.."

Jake leaned back in almost instantly, eyes falling shut once more, "s'okay," he mumbled sleepily "stupid hair..." 

"nothing about you is stupid, kiddo," Whizzer said, suddenly feeling even more protective. It was one thing to want to keep him safe from other people and bad memories, but keeping him from running himself down was another thing entirely. He knew it was probably silly, but he _hated_ to hear anyone put themselves down, especially when it was someone he loved so much. 

"Hate it," Jake mumbled, cheek pressed firmly against Whizzer's arm. He was so tired, and while he would usually be careful not to complain, especially when they had been so nice, his guard was down more than it had been in a long time. He was just _so_ tired, and warm and cozy that he couldn't seem to stop himself. 

"Why? It's part of you, kiddo" 

"It's too long an' it's got parts that hurt in the back," he dropped his voice to a whisper and murmured, "the boys at school are mean and say that I look like a girl.."

"I see..." He made a mental note to talk to Mr. McKinley about how the other students treated him when they went to their parent teacher conference. "Well... We could get you a haircut, if you wanted. Or I could work on getting the tangles out?"

He watched as Jake's eyes widened in surprise, instantly more alert. "Really? You would... You would do that? Could we do it today? It's okay if we can't, I just.. could we?"

He seemed so excited and Whizzer instantly regretted his words. They weren't even _allowed_ to take him and have his hair cut without permission. But how were they supposed to say no to him when he had actually felt comfortable enough to ask them for something. When something was important enough to ask for. It was Sunday, and he hated to bother their caseworker if nothing was wrong, but this was _important_ to Jake, so it was important enough to pursue. 

He pulled out his phone. "Let me double check with Isaiah? But we should be able to. We could probably do it today if you want to," 

Jake squealed, honest to goodness, squealed and hugged Whizzer's arm tightly, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you," he chanted, amazed at his good luck. 

"Alright kiddo, you take your nap and I'm going to talk to Isaiah and figure everything out, alright?"

Jake nodded before snuggling back in and closing his eyes. He was too excited to sleep, but stayed as still as he could, only wiggling his foot a little bit in short increments, and keeping his eyes shut tightly, always eager to follow directions. 

Whizzer knew he wasn't asleep, but he let it go. Sending messages as quickly as he could to Isaiah and Daisy, his friend since he had moved to New York in his twenties, who had been cutting his hair ever since, hoping for a favor. 

He had told Daisy about their plans to take Jake in, and she had been very supportive, telling him to call if they needed any help. Who else was going to cut the kid's hair without an appointment on a Sunday? And not botch it? Daisy was their only hope. The kid was _so_ excited, and Whizzer wasn't sure how he was supposed to tell him that they would have to wait until tomorrow. He had been disappointed enough times in his short life, and if it was up to Whizzer, nothing would ever disappoint him again. 

Halfway through the movie, Jake was still pretending to be asleep and Marvin and Jason were both _actually_ asleep. Whizzer had gotten permission to let Jake get a haircut, and Daisy was enthusiastically on her way to their apartment, more than willing to help. 

Whizzer gently shook Jake's shoulder, allowing him to maintain the illusion of having been asleep. He was awake and alert far too quickly to have ever been asleep, a huge smile spreading across his face when he was told what was happening. He was going to get the haircut he had been wanting for as long as he could remember. 

Jake hugged him tightly, trying to keep his delight as quiet as possible after seeing Marvin and Jason actually asleep at the other end of the couch. He thought about what kind of haircut he wanted. He still hoped that whoever was coming could make it look like Whizzer's, but he decided that if that wasn't an option he would be happy with them doing almost anything short of shaving it all off. 

He was so excited at the prospect of a haircut that he forgot to be nervous about meeting a new person until he heard a knock on the door. He ducked behind Whizzer, peeking out to see a lady with short, bright pink hair and big glasses. She smiled and hugged Whizzer in greeting, before peeking around him and waving down at Jake. 

Hi Jake! I'm Daisy- it's nice to meet you!" She said enthusiastically, extending her hand to.. shake? That was new. She was nice though, so he did what was expected of him, but stayed quiet. 

Whizzer led them into the bathroom where he had set up a makeshift salon with one of the bar stools. He gave Jake a boost up into it so that they didn't have a repeat of Friday morning and Daisy handed him a binder with pictures of different hair cuts. As tempting as the spiky mohawk was, he found himself disappointed that there wasn't one that looked like Whizzer's. 

He waited until Whizzer left the room so that he wouldn't embarrass himself somehow and tapped Daisy on the arm. 

"See anything you like, Cupcake?" 

Jake giggled at the nickname- she was funny. He shrugged, half-heartedly flipping back through the binder. "Well…"

"I can do other things too- those are just ideas! Did you have something in mind?" 

Jake motioned her closer and she leaned down so that he could quietly ask, "Could you make it look like Whizzer's?" 

Daisy smiled a big smile, "Oh of course! I have lots of practice with The Whizzer. He hasn't changed his hair since I've known him, and I've done it every single time. I can definitely manage that."

He thanked her profusely and sat very very still as she cut his hair. His back was to the mirror, and Whizzer didn't watch, wanting to preserve the surprise. Jake was glad that he stayed, though. Daisy seemed nice, but she was new and he didn't know her. Whizzer staying made him feel much better. 

It took a while, but when Daisy swiveled the bar stool around to face the mirror it was all worth it. Jake's eyes widened. He didn't look like himself. Well. He did, kind of. He looked like a new Jake though. A new Jake with a new family. A real family. 

Whizzer, after confirming that he liked it and was happy, assured him that he also loves it and was very excited for them to be twinning. Marvin and Jason had backed him up, surprised to find him looking so different after their nap. After Daisy left and the bathroom had been swept, they all piled up on the couch once again and started the movie over again. Jake fell asleep feeling very, very loved, a feeling that he was sure would never get old. 

At the end of the day, he was clean, and warm, and happy. He had short hair that was floppy like Whizzer's and a sting ray friend for his whale and he had two grown ups who said that they loved him and a best friend he could finally have sleepovers with. He was sure that nothing in the world would ever make him happier. 

**Author's Note:**

> It you made it to the end of this forever long story, thank you so much for sticking with it! I didn't think there was a good place to split it, and I just couldn't cut anything else out!
> 
> I have VIVID memories of playing Pretty Pretty Princess and I just had to write it in. Don't come for me. The boys are thriving. 
> 
> I hope that everyone is doing well! Stay safe, wear a mask, and wash your hands! 💖💖💖


End file.
